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Day 91
After a huge breakfast that reveals to Pete the futility of Rick’s pancake challenge, we reluctantly and fondly say farewell to Seiad Valley. But soon we’re climbing hard, still in the spirit of the trail. For a short time we still enjoy the presence of trail moments, but we can feel the uncertain future encroaching…
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Day 90
I’m writing this one on the pine top of the Wildwood Bar. There’s no one here but me and Dyl. He’s tending bar. Ashley, the owner and proprietor, is upstairs taking care of some business with the bar maid. B.B. King is playing out of four speakers. We are two happy men. Lord life is…
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Day 90
The trail has brought to life a new knowlege in us: there are many wonderful people in this world. We are dirty, stinky, hairy people, but all along our journey people have helped us without cause and treated us kindly. Today a group of equestrian women make us sandwiches, and when we reach Seiad Valley…
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Day 89 (Pete)
Today we pushed through the heart of the Marble Mountain Wilderness to near the other side. In the morning we begin a day long 4,400 ft. descent from our perch on “The Big Ridge” to Seiad Valley and the Klamath River. Yesterday evening and the whole of today have been remarkable. These mountains are very…
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Day 89
These unexpected mountains have us as excited as children. We hop from one side of the ridge to other, finding magical lakes and heartening views. We pass stark Marble Mountain, search for hidden springs, and finally come to rest on the long grass of Big Ridge. The wind sings us to sleep under a vast…
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Day 88 (Pete)
Good thing Dylan didn’t tell me we had gone eight miles before breakfast. I would have been irate. Seriously, we seemed to have a supercharged morning. I felt a little like my old self. Early on, today took shape as our time to heap on those extra miles. It also shaped up as a hot…
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Day 88
Graduation in the past, Pete dons his working threads and we head for the Marble Mountain Wilderness. At the top of a climb we meet a man who introduces himself as the UNIBONGER. Indeed he is, and it is quite a while before we are on the trail again – and almost out of water.…
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Day 87 (Pete)
I rounded a rusted outcropping of boulders to the tune of Dyl la laing out Pomp and Circumstance. It was silly but I felt the moment nonetheless. My face cracked a grin and I must say I felt proud of myself. We sat down at the cold spring there and enjoyed breakfast. As things were…
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Day 87
A momentous day arrives! Pete dons his flowing green cap and gown, which he wears for the rest of the day. We perform a simple ceremony, and walk 23 miles. Its hard to lend a sense of formality to such an unusual ceremony but I do my best. I feel proud of Pete and get…
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Day 86 (Pete)
At the end of a long shitty day my spirits rise so much as we stop that it is really hard to recount it in a proper negative fashion. My foot pain has been compounding due to the pack weight. It makes the rest of my sympathetically tired. Soon enough, the weight will be eaten.…